Since the beginning of the deconfinement, we offer you every Friday a stroll, bucolic, original, in a French region. After the east of Ile-de-France and the Great West, head for Picardy.
We left to see seals, but a tiger welcomes us. And no question, as Emmanuel Macron, born in Amiens advises, to get on this one. The damselfly, Menya, two and a half years old, a magnificent Sumatran tigress, represents a very endangered species. Pierre Bouthors, communications officer at Amiens zoo, who guides us on the 7 ha of the estate, is amazed at the proximity of the feline: "She did not like the confinement, she likes to interact with visitors, you are the first, it is certain that you attracted it. "
In Amiens, tigers in the city center
Starting a journey in Picardy with an urban zoo, the idea may seem preposterous. It was a native Amiénoise, exiled in Paris and dear to our hearts, who suggested it to us. We are not disappointed. "It is a zoo in the image of the city, it is installed on an old wild marsh, it seems to be at the end of the world, while we are in the center" enthuses our guide. Menya, who watches us from his day parole enclosure, nods. His companion, Tilak, watches nearby, carpeted under plants.
We would spend the day with them, but this would neglect the 112 other species, including several newborns during confinement. Aurélie, the photographer of our duo of backpackers of the day, no longer knows where to set the goal: gibbons, pelicans, tapirs, zebras, flamingos, storks come to meet us and party with us. "They are no longer used to it, they are intrigued to see you," laughs Pierre Bouthors. And the vegetation has exploded, the park is in wild mode. "
More for a long time: the Amiens zoo, created in 1952, is about to reopen "as soon as possible", and is organizing for health measures, via arrowed paths in the maze of this area where animals go about their business almost free. Before leaving it, we pass through the sea lion basin: weary, they sulk us, preferring to stay underwater. We are worried: would this be a bad sign for our ultimate quest for the day, the Somme Bay seals?
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The zoo is located west of the city center, our next stop is east, the perfect excuse to stop in the heart of Amiens. Behind the cathedral, near the delightful alleys bordering the canals of the Saint-Leu district, you can have a dream sandwich break, alone facing the empty terraces of the colorful restaurants of the Quai Belu, usually full of people.
On the Somme, in the middle of the gardens
Head for the famous hortillonnages of Amiens, old marshes that have become floating gardens in the city. Rémi is waiting for us at the edge of a towpath, and beckons us to climb aboard his little boat: "It's my office," he smiles. And the secretariat is my phone. At 27 years old, this native of Amiens is the youngest guide and the only independent. Former employee of the Maison des hortillonnages, in 2017 he founded his company, Les Hortillonnages et vous. The breathtaking river ride will last an hour.
While Aurélie machine guns at full speed and we are amazed in front of the exploding flora, the staggering fauna - gray herons, coots, ducks, great tits -, the decorated huts or the gardeners at work, Rémi delivers a slew of anecdotes. And highlights the key figures of this network that he knows better than his pocket: "300 ha of surface, 65 km of canals, including 15 of rieux (public canals), more than 1,000 plots ..." The visits are just coming to resume, and here too, we are preparing for the upcoming events, Market Festival on the water (third Sunday in June), Festival of hortillonnages (from July 14 to October 18)…
At Saint-Riquier Abbey, mass is said
Alas, we must already run away, the seals of the Somme Bay are waiting for us - Aurélie is convinced! Between Amiens and the sea, halfway between the 79 km of departmental roads which separate the city from the beaches of the bay, a Picardy stage is essential: the Saint-Riquier abbey and its church, a 13th century Gothic jewel.
We make it a personal matter: it is here that the author of these lines was brought, in the literal sense of the term, to the baptismal font while he was an infant. But in these uncertain times of post-confinement and the opening of religious buildings drop by drop, our prayers will not be answered: disappointment on arrival, closed doors, the paths of the diocese are impenetrable.
We leave to inquire at the Abbey Bakery, which almost adjoins the monument. Séverine, the boss, tries to smile under her mask, she tells us a story of collapse: deserted square, soaring visitors, home-made local specialties at half mast. “It was very hard. For lack of customers, I threw in, beaten cakes (Editor's note: a specialty of the west of the Somme) and Picardy pies, she sighs. Fortunately, it is gradually picking up… ”
The good news, for her as for those who will follow our steps, will fall a few seconds later from the mouth of Christmas, assistant priest of the church: “We resume services next Sunday! Mass is said, we have seen the light but it is going down, Aurélie reminds us that we have to find seals: by car!
In Saint-Valery, Marie-France keeps the fries
To be sure not to miss the marine mammals of the bay, we were advised to take advice from the population of Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, medieval pearl that dominates the Somme estuary. We can walk the splendid pedestrian promenade, where flirtatious houses lining the water line on the quays below the fortifications, we are in awe: nobody knows where to find the colony of animals.
A chimera, the Picard seal? "Not at all," protested a young local woman who came to taste, on the charming marina of Saint-Valery, with Marie-France fries: "Are you looking for seals? They are near the bunker at Hourdel, you can't miss them! "
We could not miss it, Marie France: along the port of Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, we saw a little lady sticking her head in her window - that's how we say "window" in Picard - handing a tray to a client from her yellow little house, Marie-France herself being dressed in a dapper yellow dress. To find it, it is not very complicated: leave the port behind, then look for the Envy chip shop opposite the municipal stele which indicates "From this port William of Normandy set out to conquer England in 1066" .
Marie-France, it is to conquer customers that she left for a few days in her chip shop. Not just a chip shop, moreover: a sign says "American. Sandwiches. Drinks. Italian ice cream. She is almost the only one to delight strollers, the surrounding restaurants remaining closed. Marie-France inaugurated Envie in 2011, after having worked for thirty-two years as a nursing assistant in a retirement home. Hence his strict respect for sanitary measures, and his concern: “I was afraid of the recovery, I am always afraid, people do not respect the instructions. "
Indeed, it is jostling at the Envy from the aperitif time to offer a portion (2.80 €) of delicious fries prepared by this Picardy who has his "regulars". A client shouts as she leaves: "Keep the change for your pig!" "Life is resuming," notes this local figure, who is soon expecting waves of tourists asking their ritual question: "People ask me all the time: Do you know where you can see seals? "
At the Pointe du Hourdel, the seals finally reveal themselves
Here we are again. Nothing could be easier to locate: on Google Maps, the place is so named, truthful: "Pointe du Hourdel (to see the seals)"! The point in question, near Cayeux-sur-Mer, 10 km from Saint-Valery, reveals a hamlet, a lighthouse, a micro-port and a giant beach, deserted at the end of the day. Some walkers, all the same: they cause seals, they claim to have encountered none.
We are heading towards the "bunker" - an amazing blockhouse overturned on the sand, a German vestige of the Second World War. Always nothing. Unless ... It will take the seasoned eye of the photographer to spot them, in the distance, on a sandbank. Telephoto confirmation: the colony is there, gray and white seals, some at rest, others fidgeting in the setting sun. A soothing and bewitching spectacle: we will not leave until nightfall, for a crossing in the opposite direction of this sumptuous Picardy which hides so many pretty secrets.
To see in the Bay of Somme
Le Crotoy. It is the other large commune in the Somme bay. Facing the sea and the estuary, this charming seaside resort where it is good to stroll is definitely worth a detour with its pretty fishing port, its station from where the steam train that goes around the bay, its vestiges of a fortified castle and a local architectural splendor, the Hôtel les Tourelles, dating from the beginning of the 19th century, with a breathtaking view.
Phone. from the Crotoy tourist office: 03.22.23.62.65.
House in the Somme bay. To understand everything about the functioning of the bay's ecosystem, this House recreates, through several rooms - including one dedicated to seals -, landscapes of the coast, with sound environments, videos, and 250 species of naturalized birds. Ideal for families.
Carrefour du Hourdel, Petit-Teratu farm, Lanchères (Somme). Open every day from 10 a.m. to 6.30 p.m. From 4.90 euros to 12 euros.
